DIY Vacuum Attachment for CNC

On this page, I’m going to show you the vacuum attachment that I made for my CNC. This attachment is designed so that it not only creates a place to put the vacuum hose but also redirects the air normally blown out from the bottom of the router out to the sides instead.

Even when the vacuum isn’t attached, redirecting the air in this manner really helps to keep the dust from blowing all over the place. The router is on in the picture below, and the waste wood stays in place.

I haven’t had any trouble with the router overheating, which was something that I was worried about. To me, it doesn’t feel any warmer with the attachment on than it does with it off.

CamBam Files for Vacuum Attachment

Here are the CamBam files for this project. There are two of them in a zipped folder.

As always, be careful when you cut out something someone else designed, especially when that someone is me. ; ) Please change the settings in the CamBam files to suite your CNC as my settings might not work well for you and could even end up damaging something.

Dimensions

The diameter of my router is 3.5″ and the diameter of my vacuum hose is 2.25″, so that’s exactly how big I made the holes for them. At first, I tried making the holes a slightly bigger to make sure that I could get the thing on, but the slight increase in size actually made them too big.

Keep in mind that your router and vacuum hose might be a different size from mine, so you’ll want to check that before you find out that the holes are the wrong size.

Pictures

Notice how there is a bolt on the left side of the vacuum attachment. This clamps it onto the router and keeps it from falling off. I made it so that another can be used to hold the vacuum hose in place, but it didn’t seem like it needed it, so I left it off for now.

[bad]

I should also mention that I forgot to add holes in the CamBam file for the two bolts that hold the separate pieces of the vacuum attachment together. I ended up having to make them the old fashioned way using an electric drill. : )

I had a hard time getting it onto the router the first time and had to pry the attachment apart to get it on. After taking it on and off a few time though, it seems to have loosened it to the point where I can put it on easily now.

Improvements

There are still a few improvements that I am going to make to this so that the vacuum’s suction will be guided closer to where the wood is being cut, but, for now, I’m taking a break from it while I work on some other things.